FRANCE: Israeli husband-wife duo make splash at Cannes with first film "Jellyfish"

Record ID: 860791

  • Title: FRANCE: Israeli husband-wife duo make splash at Cannes with first film "Jellyfish"
  • Date: 28th May 2007
  • Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 25, 2007) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ETGAR KERET, CO-DIRECTOR, SAYING: "I am very excited about it, you know. It is my first film, it's like in my old age it's like starting again, you know. Having my first feature here with such big films and getting acknowledgement for it. I couldn't have asked for anything better."
  • Embargoed: 12th June 2007 13:00
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  • Location: France
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  • Country: France
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  • Reuters ID: LVA5A03EZT7X66MK07B8A3FN422M
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  • Story Text: Celebrated Israeli author Etgar Keret and his writer/actress wife Shira Geffen picked up two awards at the Critics Week competition at the Cannes Film festival on Friday (May 25), for their feature "Jellyfish".
    "Having my first feature here with such big films and getting acknowledgement for it...I couldn't have asked for anything better," said Keret.
    "When writing I am very confident and sure of myself. Working on this project, on the other hand, was like learning to walk all over again. It was a great experience," he added.
    The husband-wife duo won best director honours by the sidebar competition as well as picking up TV5Mondes "Young Critics Awards" for best film.
    Geffen said she was particularly pleased to be awarded for a film that had taken many years to bring into existence.
    "We started on the screenplay three or four years ago, and the idea for for the story was more than eight years ago so it had been a very long process, but it was worth it," she said.
    Geffen added that collaborating with her husband was the key for the film's success.
    "I think the secret is that we know each other so well...I think it went so well because we see things so differently," she said.
    "I think it is much easier to make a film with your partner because when you make a film you have a certain goal so when you argue you argue about something concrete," added Keret, "Working on the film is actually the best time of our relationship."
    The couple say the film will be released in Israel later this summer.
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